Beauty beyond belief
This ^ is a truly wondrous thing. How to convey the sense of a new president overcoming his difficulties, being scrutinised by one of the most brilliant political minds of our time? It's a tough job, I'll give you that, but the graphics guys at Sky have really pulled out all the stops for this one.
For a start, how to represent the United States of America? That's not easy. How to convey the idea of such a vast country, from Alaska to Florida, from Hawaii to Maine? Many of us would just give up the ghost right there and then, but not Sky. No, they've gone for the 'wobbly bit of green grass with a couple of trees here and there' representation. Beautiful. I think you have to take your hat off to them.
How, then, to get across the fact that the weak, powerless, struggling president has plenty of things to concern him, while the colossus of television politics towers over him in judgement? Brilliantly - by selecting a photo of Obama looking down at something we can't even see (presumably signing something or scribbling "What the hell is that Boulton guy up to? He's at least three times as big as me. Is he a giant?" on a post-it and frantically waving it under the nose of his closest adviser), thereby conveying pensiveness at the impending verdict, and a super-smug "Yes, yes, it's me all right" pose from Our Hero, his lovely face gazing out at us, the viewer, while that shifty Obama character - is his mind on higher things, or is he just unable to look us in the eye? - can only sheepishly look downwards.
Hmm. A lot of us would have marvelled at such a brilliantly iconic piece of art and left it at that. Oh no. Not for the rococo designers of Sky, and good on them for carrying on and keeping going long after most people would have left it at that. Because there's not just two giant men - one more giant and important than the other, of course - on the wobbly White House lawn. No, there are TANKS! A POWER STATION! FOR SALE SIGNS THAT MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THE WHITE HOUSE IS UP FOR GRABS! A BLOODY GREAT BIG AMERICAN FLAG! And there, up in the Sky, TWO SOCKING MASSIVE PLANES!
All that said, the logo is the best thing about Obama 100, given that it's written by Boulton. Random quote:
Obama is marking Earth Day today by visiting a rust belt plant in Newton Iowa which has now been converted to manufacturing towers for wind turbines.
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Hello. I'm a Bristol-based writer and soon-to-be-redundant journalist. You can read more about me and the Enemies site here, or follow me on Twitter. Email me if you like - antonvowl at live dot co dot uk
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April 29th, 2009 - 21:15
Have you seen the trailer for this on Sky News? It’s brill. It’s like an animated version of that banner, but with Boulton’s face animated as a series of photos of him pulling various expressions (mainly based on the sort of world-weary facepalms and cynical glances employed in bylines for broadsheet columnists who specialise in “taking a wry/sideways look at the week’s news”).
It looks like the opening titles for Only Fools and Horses.